What rifle for Alaska

I would pick a 7rem mag or a 375 h&h and that's before I read the article.

Stainless, synthetic, short, with good open sights, a good but not great medium power easily detachable scope, a good sling, that has the authority to remove Yogi from the cooktent when he won't leave on his own after you have asked him nicely.

.375 H&H, M-70, SS, barrel cut to 22", post 64 controlled feed, with 3x9 x 40 leuy VX2 is what I ended up with.

Two loads, 285 gr. SPBT full house, and 220 gr FP greatly reduced loads for camp meat.

And 20' of parachute cord to tie it to the boat!

If I were to ever go this is what I'd take. It's a 1999 production SS Winchester Classic in 30-06 in a McMillan Edge stock. It weighs 7.5 lbs as pictured and shoots great. A brown bear hunt for an out of state resident would cost $20,000+. That'll never happen, but if I won the lottery and could afford the hunt this is still the gun I'd take. A good quality 180 gr bullet will take anything else in Alaska and I'd not feel under gunned with 200-220 gr Partitions on the bigger stuff.

If I am ever dragged to Alaska to hunt, I will grab my 1895 Winchester rifle, chambered for the 405 WCF. Well balanced, it carries nicely and can shoot heavy loads.

Kevin

I hunted many years, all over Alaska, including hunting/killing big bears... A Decent shooting 30-06 loaded with 200NP's is all you really need!

I also like a 7mm Rem. mag., loaded with 175NP's, for those with magnum-idis…

Both are good brown bear medicine, even as a stopper...

DM

Splitting half my years growing up in Alaska more specifically Kodiak , raspberry island and Afognak most people I had encountered that went into bear country regularly carried a 338 win or 375 h&h some also carried some marlin 1895 at the time the ammo we used was a company out of Alaska I dont recall the name but they were hard cast 405gr and loaded pretty hot .

I would like to say either my Howa 1500 or Rem 700 in 30-06, but my Marlin in 45-70 would probably win out, it is spot on at 100yrds with 405gr bullets and can be loaded down for smaller game

30-06 in any simple and durable bolt action. That will be a tool you can use for any job. Common ammo availability is pretty important out there too from what I’ve heard.

30-06? That’s old guy stuff. Heck in 2006 it was 100 years old and the 300 blackout hadn’t even been introduced yet.

Yeah, somethings that have always worked, still work.

H&Hhunter said:

The .375 H&H was my round up there and still would be if I went back to live there today.

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Yeah, I'd take my .375 H&H too … encounters with dangerous animals, or people for that matter, shouldn't be a competition … it's not the Olympics.

.338 Winnie Mag

Devil’s advocate: I’m curious as to why no one ever chooses an AR in 458. It would seem like a reasonable option. Has the AR craze not made it up there yet?

BigBore44 said:

Devil’s advocate: I’m curious as to why no one ever chooses an AR in 458. It would seem like a reasonable option. Has the AR craze not made it up there yet?

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I imagine some do. Likely more than a couple .22’s too. Maybe a bow and arrow as well.

30-06, 12 gauge, .22lr, and what ever pistol makes you feel good.

That’s pretty basic, and if you need a spare, and you do need a spare, any flavor of 223 would fit in quite well.

This statement in the article is very true...pretty much with everything involving guns, shooters, hunters, etc. Just remove the words “Alaska big game” and replace with whatever.

“Ask a dozen hunters to name the best all-round rifle for Alaska big game and you’re likely to receive a dozen different answers. Along the way, expect some passionate arguments and, in the end, figure you’ll probably raise more questions than answers.”

I thought there DFG’s list of most popular was interesting.
Their top 5 most popular were:

1. 30.06
2. .300 Winchester magnum
3. .338 Winchester magnum
4. .375 H&H magnum
5. 7mm Remington magnum

For some reason I did not expect 30.06 to be at the top of the list. I thought it might be somewhere in the top 5. I didn’t expect 7mm mag to even be on the list. I did expect 45-70 to be on the list.

But, I have never been to Alaska and if I ever go I probably won’t be there to hunt. At least not unless I will the lottery.

"With these thoughts in mind, and by integrating the findings of an unofficial department poll published in 1999, an unscientific 2015 poll provided by the Alaska Outdoors Supersite (see poll results), and more than a little Kentucky windage, we’ve arrived at the following consensus for the department’s Top Five"

….. uh ok … and what a coincidence that the top choice is the same as the rifle/cartridge combination used and preferred by the author.

"Not every Alaska big game hunter seeks trophy brown bears. But that doesn’t discount the need to carry a rifle powerful enough to quickly stop the continent’s biggest bruin. Most of the state is bear country and experienced hunters realize that chance encounters can happen any time, without warning. A hunter packing a .338 or .375 H&H magnum for 100-pound black-tailed deer might appear over-gunned; that is, until we take into account the hunt is on Kodiak Island where sudden close-range encounters with 1,500-pound brown bears can occur."

If you're able to see the future, and you're confident that you can control all of the variables then you have the luxury of choosing a rifle/cartridge combination that's neither too much nor too little for what you need. I don't have those abilities so I'll happily carry around a bigger hammer because I like statistical advantages.

On a slight tangent, I'd love to visit Alaska. Not to hunt but to drive the ALCAN Hwy, and see some of that beauty that the state is known for.

The Alaskan Rifle:
.270 Win/150 gr. NP.

But then, I'm a rifleman.






GR

300 win mag, 30-06, 7mm, and .338 are what everyone I know uses. I use a 30-06, but have a 300 h&h I use to stay classy!